Rifted
by sapphireshadow15
Summary: "There is a disturbance in the ordinary, and all in which you are accustomed to will fall." The ruins of Westopolis hold far more than revealed by the government, as Shadow and Rouge discover on a GUN investigation. Now, caught up in a whirlwind of conflict, they have centered themselves in a dark conspiratorial game that will take the uncovered trust in each other to overcome.
1. An Old Friend

_****__**I do not own any of the characters, they are trademarks of Sega.**_

_**Rifted**_

_**Session 1-An Old Friend**_

_**Outside Night Babylon city**_

In a midnight sky, stars hid behind outstretching clouds, rivaling the moonlight. There was stillness in the atmosphere that seemed unbreakable; the serenity of the untouched landscape lay apart from the city miles away. Scattered trees refracted light on the forest floor, making slivers of shadows along the grassy earth. An autumn breeze gently whooshed at the long, sturdy branches, which created a near silent whistle among the otherwise absolute silence. Clouds parting, the moon and stars became clearly visible and dominant of the universal canvas. Walking upon the plains was a lone ebony hedgehog, a silhouette of black against night. Even the blood red streaks in his quills blended in. Shadow let the breeze whip at him gently, raising his eyes to the night skies admiringly. The galaxy he grew up surrounded by seemed so untouchable on this planet, just as his purpose was so out of reach on the ARK. Barely visible, miles away, and forgotten by the people of this world was the revolutionary space colony. He smiled, knowing it would all be nothing more than a distant memory now. He stood there in the swaying grass, recalling the transpired events from months ago in his mind.

Before him was the gruesome, demonic beast. A gargoyle-like creature, with two separate heads. Its body, painted black and red, was rooted to a massive boulder it had upheaved from the earth below. Bat-like wings shadowed his face, acting as shields. The creature's deadly talons equated the elongated horns sprouting from its heads. Levitating in the air around him were destroyed buildings, cars, and masses of Earth, summoned by the creature's power. Shadow's fur blazed gold as he antagonized the being before him. His body had suffered slight bruising, blood trickling from the gashes. The battle had lasted well over two hours now, and both were unwilling to surrender. He was raring with hate, and the demon was likewise.

"I gave you life, and yet you defy me? So be it. You shall pay for your ingratitude with relentless pain!" the demon's voice had howled.

The hedgehog tightened his fists. Faster than sound, he sped towards the beast, dodging uprooted debris. Chaos lightning sparked in his hands, holding his menacing stare.

This monster...my bloodline? My...my father?

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

He sent the raw lightning flying into the monster's weak point-his eye. The demon roared in pain, lashing his massive claws out at him but to no avail, temporarily blinded. Shadow gritted his teeth in disgust that this hellish killer could be his relative, even to such the small point of it simply being shared DNA.

No. I refuse to believe it.

"Die along with these foolish humans!"

The beast's single eye glowed, and sent a damaged skyscraper hurling towards him. Caught off guard, his face slammed into the steel building, his body struggling to resist the chunks of concrete crushing him. He grunted in pain, using what stamina he had to raise himself against the inertia of the superstructure. All around him, pieces of glass and steel manufactures rained down. The building had undergone so much pressure from the atmosphere and violent thrusting that it was beginning to crumble apart. The golden hedgehog willed all his strength to slow the inertia of the mass, his fingers painfully digging into shards of glass and metal. Shadow was holding the skyscraper inches away from his body, every drop of exertion he could muster preventing the mass from catapulting him to his compressed death. Black Doom's evil laughter rang endlessly in the aerial battleground.

"My son, defeated so easily? Pity, pity that you were so ignorant in your ways, so much that I had to destroy you."

A massive crack began to sever the building in half, and Shadow regarded the phenomenon as his chance for a comeback.

"You...!"

He shot up straight through the foundation of the building, empowered by hatred, completely disintegrating it of its former anatomy. He barely glanced at his achievement, now an agglomeration of concrete and steel colliding with the Earth below. He nonchalantly brushed the rubble off his glowing fur, smugly gleaming at his genetic father. Black Doom angrily growled, summoning another large mass of human architecture. However, the hedgehog was now solidly aware, rocketing full speed to close the distance he had just lost between the demon and he. Shadow could feel the energy tugging at him, the energy from the ancient gems flowing inside him like his blood-where in fact it was his blood. If Black Doom wished to play this way, he would do the same. A deathly red aura encompassed him as he called upon the mystic energy of the Chaos Emeralds.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

Hate inside him boiled in his veins, catalyzing the attack's immensity. His emotions directed his power, currently lusting for revenge. The incoming building disintegrated into nothing from the monumental blast. Nearby debris suffered the same fate. The devil was blown back from the gust of energy and fragments of metal piercing into his skin. Heat scorching like magma seemed to melt him from his skeleton. A sickened yell echoed in the deafening, dusty wind.

He's almost finished, Shadow thought to himself.

Anxious to finish the battle, he infuriatedly clicked his inhibitor rings off his wrists, letting them plummet to meet the debris below. He would retrieve them later.

"I will feel no sympathy for someone as evil as you."

With that, he torpedoed towards Black Doom, the inhibitor rings no longer containing his power. The hell demon was swiping his talons into the air, unable to fully focus with his blinded sight. Approaching the beast was no longer difficult, his connection with the Emeralds slipping by the second from Shadow's intense energy intake. The hell demon's form seemed to shimmer like a dying candle light, his energy waning every instant. Shadow unlashed the final blow with quick precision. The screams of pain rang like sirens. Shadow scoffed at the desperation in Black Doom's weak, final attacks to revive the dignity he would soon lose in death. He smirked, realizing he had bested the gruesome demon. The beast let out a last horrid yell of agony, thrashing around blindly, the floating debris stopping its levitation and hurtling to the ground. The sky rumbled as the ghastly devil fell to his demise. Panting heavily and relaxing his muscles from the enduring onslaught, the black hedgehog smirked as his father died before him. The war of the Black Arms was finally over. A great barrier had just been broken, one that had lasted for fifty years, keeping him distant from the ones that cared, away from the purpose he was made for. Although exhausted and on the verge of unconsciousness, he still had one more thing to do. The Black Comet still sojourned in the midst of the ruined human habitat.

"This is the end to you, and the end to my cursed past." He solemnly declared to his dead procreator.

And with that he advanced at supersonic speed to the awaiting city below.

He had come out to the wilderness to escape everything after running from the annoying human media that now worshipped him. After he destroyed the massive Black Comet with the legendary Eclipse Cannon, the humans immortalized him in their history books, despite that he wanted to eliminate them murderously not too long ago. The behavior was a perfect example of their narrow-minded thought processes, and a reminder at how pointless it would be to waste his time with them. Their persistent complimenting and overawe agitated the midnight colored hedgehog to his limit, as to where he decided to abandon them completely. Lately, things had settled down from the Black Arms invasion. The humans no longer showed interest in capturing him for military purposes. It appeared that they thought better of the chance of another planet catastrophe and alternatively began to devise more lethal weapons, or, attempted to, for that matter.

He had been under the radar for quite some time, enough time he hoped for the humans to forget him. Day after day he had simply wandered the wilderness, fearing to exert too much energy without the stability of his lost inhibitor rings. In all the emotions stirring since the invasion, most important to him, he had found closure. It had seemed definite to him that the world was against him, that everyone wanted to manipulate him or destroy evidence of his existence. According to a certain someone, however, none of that would ever matter as long as she was by his side. He was a loner with no future to aspire to,and no past to seek. In a cold world that the ebony hedgehog did not favor, there was one person he had subconsciously sought out after every episode of decadence, the one person that could ease the pain and loneliness he felt every day of his ageless life. In the back of his mind, he knew what everyone saw it as. He assured them, rather assertively, that the alliance was completely platonic, strictly for business. He would always hear their unconvinced laughter. But maybe it was just his conscious, the doubt in his own mind, telling him different. Clearly, he had no interest in such an effortful thing! But perhaps it was only clear to him as he pounded that belief in his own heart. Nonetheless, he had to come to a decision…

Come to a decision? Since when had he ever pondered the thought of visiting her? Normally he would just invite himself, leaving just as insolently. She never seemed to care after all. Even if he disregarded that problem, things had changed, and instead of an anti-social loner no one minded, or even a fugitive running from the law, he was now a welcomed hero. He had absolutely no interest in their paltry idolizations, nor would he feel obliged to encourage them by revealing himself after months of hiding. Then again, how could he allow himself to be indirectly controlled by their foolish behaviors? Eventually, this thought lodged in his ego, and his pride got the best of him. He looked away from the night sky, a shimmer of gold in the corner of his peripheral vision. There, suspended on the dead branches of an oak tree he vaguely remembered from months ago, were two rings.

"Ironic that I should find them here."

He gingerly took them from their landing site, setting them back onto his wrists in their rightful place. The inhibitor rings shone brighter, rejuvenating their owner with familiar strength. With one last look at his past home in the stars, Shadow took off in a blur of black.

_**Night Babylon, Club Rouge**_

Over the years, he had finally accustomed to Earth, and discovered how easy it was becoming to maneuver on its various terrains. From the window of the ARK, sided by his dearest friend Maria, Earth had appeared so vastly complicated, but Shadow maneuvered through the twilight forest with ease, the trees diminishing until he neared suburban territory. He picked up speed, and found his way into the city of Night Babylon, a few minute commute with his acceleration, where few were out on the streets at an hour. The air smelled fresh of rain. The wet streets reflected colorful arrays of light from the city. The chill autumn breeze he had experienced in the forest was captured by the buildings. The air became still, and accompanied with Shadow's natural quietness, the world seemed to be silenced. Normally, this part of town was awake with partying and blaring music at night, and Shadow thought it strange for the city to be so uneventful.

He breezed down the sidewalk, glancing at the city's bright advertising signs. He had never truly understood why his friend could live in such a place, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how opposite they were from each other. Shadow preferred solitude and a quiet place to think, while she thrived on public attention, especially from men. True, their friendship was strange. From the beginning, things were never simple between them. Once two lone individuals working for their own ambition were now close comrades, rivals at times, but despite it always there for each other. The city's silence kept him alert, and he couldn't help but feel someone was following him.

_This was unwise._ he thought to himself.

The military wasn't exactly fond of him, and had occasionally attacked him simply out of their insecurity of his power. He knew there were GUN informers positioned in most big cities where crime was most likely to occur. Night Babylon, with its prominent gambling, was no exception. Tapping into his memory of the place, it did not take him long, and before he knew it he was standing in front of Club Rouge, the residence of his companion. It was late at night, but he knew her well enough to know she most likely would be awake. He thought of simply breaking in silently as he normally did, but something compelled him to knock.

_Another strange action._ He scolded to himself.

Time began to tick away, with Shadow growing impatient, being his normal indignant self. Without any elaboration, he positioned himself onto her roof, a place he usually went with thoughts on his mind, or an urge to be alone. The nocturnal view of Night Babylon was still the same as always-just the way he preferred it to be. He remembered how calm his life was when he resided here, then realized what always made him leave. His conflicting emotion would have to be put to the side for now; he had already traveled this far into human society. Below on ground level, he heard an unsure voice muffled on the other side of the door, finally responding.

"Who is it...I'm closed for the night..."

"Just an old friend is all." he called down from the roof.

The ebony hedgehog couldn't help but smile at hearing her voice again. Upon finishing his sentence the door swung open. Shadow unceremoniously jumped off the roof, landing right before the ivory bat. If she was scared out of her mind that a stranger had just landed out of nowhere in front of her, he wouldn't have known. He hardly had the chance to look upon her, for he was nearly knocked off his feet from her welcoming hug. The fluttering motion in her heart ceased when sudden anger began to surface. She had heard so much from the media since the destruction of the Black Comet: Shadow possibly having a renowned hatred for mankind, him being so distant due another scandalous alliance with Eggman, scurrilous beliefs of him being responsible for unintellectual crimes. Seeing Shadow, her first instinct was that he had run into trouble, and needed her assistance. For the most part, after all, he was all business, and wasn't like him to show up for visits for the heck of it. Whatever the reason, he felt he had to do things on his own. Rarely did he ask for assistance, and even rarer that he thanked someone for it. Seldom, she wondered why he acquainted himself with her. The possibility of being used stung at the back of her thoughts, although there was always a stronger emotion to suppress that. Here he was now, after months of communicational lacking, at her doorstep.

Rouge the bat's brief anger subsided. The rarest smile of sentimentality came upon her face. It was like a recap of their past of singularity, an odd friendship molded straight from each other's trickery. Shadow, sheltered from conventionality and culture of this world, and terrified of social interaction, had somehow befriended the seductive government agent, who loved to tease and provoke him, secretly wanting nothing more than a person to trust her. She tightened her grasp on the hedgehog and wandered off.

"Shadow you dumb ass..." she said in a relieved, inconsistent tone to her insult.

"Enough of this." He said to his comrade, trying to sound serious, but a smirk accompanied the response.


	2. Murderous Intentions

_****__****__**I do not own any of the characters, they are trademarks of Sega.**_

_**Rifted**_

_**Session 2-Murderous Intentions**_

**Club Rouge**

Deep in her wandering thoughts, she had hardly noticed Shadow in the doorway of the room. Even in broad daylight, he always found nonexistent shadows to lurk from. Rouge had been sitting on her couch, trying to sort her emotions. It seemed strange to admit her relief at his presence, but she let it come; she hadn't felt relief in a long time. Deep inside was a fear that constantly depleted any confidence she owned. There was something inevitable that lingered from his stays, something she couldn't place. It was there like a beacon, calling her, yet she always turned the other way. She covered up her uncertainty with a falsified personality. Though she was truly a humorous, contented person, her exterior was mostly a facade. It seemed her more genuine feelings were unfathomed to those who knew her. From the corner of her vision, she glanced at Shadow. Her friend had been staying for two days now. Of course, it wasn't as if those two days had been filled with much activity. Shadow spent most of the time brooding on the roof. He wasn't one for conversation; nonetheless, she enjoyed his company, grimly knowing she would wake up one morning to find him gone for another long time period. The ivory bat turned her head to look out the window. It was now close to noon, and the sky was still a dull gray.

"Rouge".

She shot out of contemplation, looking back at him.

"What?"

"...How long has it been since the invasion?"

"Six months." she answered simply.

His question compelled her to voice one of the many she had.

"Where did you go?" she asked painfully.

His crimson red eyes met the floor, looking for something to say. He knew his answer, and he knew her next question would be why. He could logically compose a fabricated lie just as easily as he could tell the truth, but with Rouge, nothing could ever be logical in his mind. His thoughts went blank, and he found himself with no response. Her turquoise eyes intruded his solitude, demanding an answer, but the intervention was interrupted by the beep of Rouge's wrist communicator. Shadow's blood red irises remained fixated away from her.

"Agent Rouge." came a voice from her earpiece.

The signal was poorly transmitted as usual. Weather had always been an easy interference with communications.

"I hope I'm not intruding on you, my dear." the voice was gentlemanly, but firm.

The ivory bat leered at her silent companion unsatisfied.

"Of course not, Commander." she replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Ah. If you would please, report to base for a mission briefing? I hate to impose on you so suddenly, but I'm afraid my subordinate is getting antsy to see you."

Rouge put a hand to her earpiece.

"Will do Boss."

She adjusted the communicator, and the power clicked off. She breezed past Shadow. "Where are you headed?"

She gave him one last look of uncertainty from their conversation.

**GUN HQ**

The GUN headquarters was a large, steel building. It was heavily defended, located close to Central City, a median between Night Babylon and the Westopolis ruins, not much farther than a few miles. From her aerial view, the base looked like a child's building block, surrounded by tiny toy soldiers. She landed gracefully in front of the main gate, where almost immediately she was demanded her agent card by a patrolling officer. Showing her card, he simply nodded and allowed her through. The interior was rather plain, but architecturally impressive. It bore metallic, bulletproof walls that stretched and met to its equally protected ceiling. Its windows were bulletproof as well, tinted so outsiders could not peer inside. The floors were simple tile, clanking noisily as government officials wandered seemingly aimlessly around. As soon as she walked inside, her superior, Commander Andrew, greeted her.

"Ah, Rouge my dear. Pleasure seeing you."

He politely shook her hand. She smiled warmly at him. Even when she was called at an inconvenience, Andrew was difficult to be mad at. She had first met him when she was recruited as an agent; he had saved her from theft charges and considered hiring her, her self-achieved combat skills already fit the requirements and allowed her through the justice system. Commander Andrew had taken the oath of office long before Rouge came to know GUN. With his position, he wisely governed the United Federation's impassive relationship with the President, binding peace and prosperity into defense among the best in the world. The organization of GUN, The Guardians of United Nations, had been formed to unify nearby territories through peaceful campaigns, in hope that one day, the world could be eradicated of war. Pure irony such an organization would hold the most deadly army in existence. In contrary to their propagandized nonviolent order, the society was a brutal hierarchy. Soldiers and agents alike were rigorously trained, frequently patrolling territories in search of treasonous acts. As with any government system, suspicion began to spread like wildfire that GUN was a corrupt tyranny, slowly building its forces to overthrow the executive office and reign supreme with an already formidable empire of weaponry and land. The military had divided itself into controversial terrain.

Accidentally, the President had placed himself in a political weak spot. Risk mutiny, or demand disbandment of their most vital resource. Despite the rumoring, Andrew had held his own as a strong leader. He was getting in on age, and people had begun to wonder who would take his position, should his time pass.

"Come with me. My brother Joseph has recently been promoted to lieutenant. Just this morning he recommended an evaluation of your skill. He wishes to see your abilities for himself."

Rouge agreed. The Commander led her to the elevator which would take them to the underground levels. A variation of secretive files and vaults of the corporation were kept in the subterranean levels. More so than allow such access to simple ranking agents, the entrance was barricaded by a field of magnetic energy, originating from two large magnets positioned almost decoratively on the sides of the elevator. Beside the contraptions was a card scanner that temporarily disabled the defense system. The young agent knew it would only react to cards of high ranking officials. The magnets hummed distractingly, a lone camera above contemplating their actions. Commander Andrew placed his card into the scanner, and the magnets quieted. The elevator opened automatically, and shut behind them as they entered. Rouge could hear the magnets whir back to life on the other side of the doors as her supervisor configured the elevator's destination controls.

As they traveled deeper into the base, Rouge looked over to her supervisor. She couldn't help but notice how troubled he looked. The Commander was tan skinned and relatively tall. His hair was silvery gray and cut short. His military uniform, bluish-charcoal and complete with GUN's insignia, was the only apparel Rouge had seen him in. Normally, her superior was jovial and friendly towards her, but as of today, he was cold and unresponsive. She watched the screen's level number change from positive to negative, and abruptly the elevator jerked sideways to the left. Rouge grasped the railing in surprise. The Commander chuckled lightly.

"That's right. You have never been down here before, have you?"

She shook her head responsively. Commander Andrew gave a weak smile.

"Rouge, how would you feel if my younger brother were to take command after my passing?"

Rouge gave him a concerned expression.

"Sir, why are you speaking like that?" she added a fake, nervous laugh, but she knew Andrew could tell she was uncomfortable.

"Things are constantly changing in this modernized world we live in. I won't be able to be Commander forever, my dear. I am worried as to how the society will cooperate without my lead."

Though worried and puzzled by his response, she was somehow able to pass it off as nothing. The elevator stopped and opened its chrome doors. Rouge stepped out, taking in the scene of the top-secret floor. Commander Andrew motioned for her to follow him, and they walked off to the right. The subterranean level was dark and lit by hanging spotlights. There were many corridors, and Rouge questioned to herself how Andrew knew where he was going. Occasionally they would pass by vaulted doors defended by more magnetic devices.

Unlike the bustling aura of the main corridors above ground, the subterranean floor was eerie and quiet. Only a handful of foot soldiers were stationed guard here, and she soon discovered why. As they turned the corner, the metallic floors converted into transparencies of glass that revealed an underground hangar, illuminated by small blue lights. The flooring was obviously soundproof, because Rouge couldn't hear anything except their own footsteps, despite that she could see several engines flaring at once. Massive battle mechs and hoards of robots were lined up in battle formation. It was here the majority of soldiers were stationed. The ceiling must have been extremely high, for small fighter planes were being test flown, so close Rouge thought they might burst through the floor under her feet. They passed the next hallway, where the glass became solid metal again, hiding the weaponry. The passageways continued.

Finally, they came to a room with solid, heavy double doors. The Commander knocked twice, and the doors were pulled open by two guard officials, wearing shades to protect their identities, for working for GUN didn't always leave you with a blood clean slate. A long rectangular table took up most of the room in the space, and there were four chairs spread out accompanying it. The walls were bare and colorless; there were of course no windows. Sitting across the far end of the table was a younger man with equally tanned skin and light brown hair, beginning to gray with age. His face seemed to have been frozen in one single expression for years. He had gray eyes, same as Andrew, but instead of politeness, they foretold of his brutality. Commander Andrew walked over to the man, shaking hands with him briefly before seating.

"Agent Rouge, I'd like to introduce you to my younger brother, Lieutenant Joseph."

Rouge professionally shook his hand as well, and sat at the other end of the table, facing Joseph.

"Agent Rouge. Much has been said about you" Joseph began.

"You specialize in infiltration, hacking, and you're widely known for your unsurpassable trickery. So much so, I desire you for my own squadron of agents."

She smiled slyly, enjoying so many compliments.

"This mission is strictly reserved for you. It is vital that you follow all quotas, for this process will test you as an agent. But, I am quite doubtful you can surpass my squadron's standards. My faith dissipated when I discovered you were a female Mobian."

Joseph continued. Rouge narrowed her eyes. This was now a game of pride.

"You are familiar with the city of Westopolis, Miss Rouge?" he questioned as if he was instructing a school child.

"Yeah. I was positioned there for a while in the invasion. Totally destroyed beyond repair. Casualties through the roof." she said almost in monotone.

Rouge took no practice of formality, even with the large gap in authority her and the lieutenant shared. He simply raised an eyebrow at her lack of interest.

"Have you been informed of the frequent wildfires that have plagued the woodlands surrounding it?"

She nodded.

"This is a result of the rogue electricity that has not yet been maintained. Weathered electricity poles have collapsed and set fire multiple times. It is not only a nuisance to have an entire city's electricity constantly running at our cost, but a hazard. There are gasoline tanks, gunpowder, dynamite, and who knows what left behind in that city. A massive explosion is highly probable."

The ivory bat snorted with amusement, propping her feet on the table.

"Then shut off the electricity. GUN has access to all appliances of every city in the United Federation."

"Something is interfering with our accesses." she could tell from his voice he already disliked her. She smirked.

"Oh boo! Isn't that a shame?"

Commander Andrew concealed a smile at his brother's stiffened face.

"It is the ruins of an uninhabitable city, Miss Rouge. There's no conclusive explanation for our limited accesses."

"Maybe it's because you're too lazy to find one." she breathed with false enthusiasm. The lieutenant pounded his fists against the table.

"It appears to me you have forgotten your purpose for being here. Your assignment is to locate and destroy the city's power grid." his voice seethed with impatience.

"Military dominance of the world ring a bell? This is child's play. Stop bitching about how hazardous it is and do something about it yourself for once." Joseph's face flushed bright red with anger.

"Joseph, please," began Andrew with a stifled laugh. "You have to admire her boldness."

His face returned to normal shade, but his silence deemed his annoyance.

"Why don't you send troops to do this?" Rouge asked bluntly.

The lieutenant sighed.

"I can't spare the time, money, or effort. It's much easier to send a free agent than a squad of prepositioned troops. Besides, Miss Rouge, I am a very busy man. I don't have time to affiliate myself with your ongoing mission processes, which is why I want that generator shut down by midnight."

He held his head in his hands, glaring at Rouge with jaded eyes. She returned the favor with a cocky grin that only brewed more dislike.

"I'm in I suppose. But, I don't work without incentive." She lowered her eyelids, tilting her head.

"This is a required evaluation, not a field mission...though I should have seen this coming. I've heard from my brother you are nothing if not a difficult woman."

The lieutenant held up a black and white picture of Rouge the day of her arrest years ago. Handcuffed, she was flirtatiously smiling, holding a counterfeit, white diamond she had picked up on one of her raids. Her arresters couldn't persuade her to give up the gem, which she naughtily remembered she still had in possession back home. His smile was nothing short of unnerving.

"Your compensation will depend on your evaluation results. More so...how you handle it."

Rouge's instincts bolted inside her, and she suddenly felt aware of something from the grimness in his reply. She glanced at the Commander for reassurance, but found him solemnly staring down his brother. Andrew and Rouge stood to leave, and shook hands with Joseph a final time. She saw his thin lips slightly curl from her nervous expression. As the doors slammed behind them, Commander Andrew sighed shakily.

"Rouge, be extra careful on this mission." he said.

"And remember that I have always supported you." This comment greatly daunted her.

"Sir, what is causing you to say that kind of thing?" He mustered up a false smile.

"Nothing you need to fret about."

The Commander bid farewell to Rouge and called on a nearby GUN guard. "Please escort her out. I must stay and converse further with my brother." The man saluted and gestured Rouge in front of him. She looked back to the end of the hallway, where the Commander she had fought beside for years was leaned against a wall with his head in his hands. She silently prayed and bid goodbye, for she had the sudden feeling she would never see him again.

**GUN HQ **

When he was certain Rouge was well on her way, he inhaled deeply and proceeded back inside. The Commander did not take his seat as he had done before. His brother Joseph was not seated either. They simply stood there, taunting each other with their gray eyes. It was his brother who broke the eeriness.

"Kudos to you Andrew. You've got yourself a well-trained agent." he said with obvious resentment.

Andrew quickly nodded. Then, his sibling abruptly changed the subject, but it did not surprise the Commander in the least.

"Have you rethought my proposition?" Anger welled up inside the Commander, but he remained silent.

"GUN has been the stringed puppet of the United Federation for decades, but their ignorance has blinded them. Here, we have the opportunity to show them who is the real backbone of this nation! How they would be nothing without our service. They are nothing but wealthy nobles of inheritance. But we-Andrew, we are the strategists, engineers, scientists, and fighters that have molded this country into what it is today."

Andrew continued his dreary silence.

"I only wish you would have seen things my way, but I fear instead you will turn out to be an obstacle to my plans."

He pulled out a handgun from his cloak.

"Only one of us will lead this society into their destined greatness, Andrew, and it will not be you."

"Joseph, please reconsider. This nation needs recovering times of peace; an up-roaring rebellion will do nothing but tear the nation apart. We could hardly stand face against the Black Arms! If Sonic and his comrades hadn't uncovered Professor Gerald's research, the entire human race would have been eradicated! What possesses you to believe our economy could withstand mutiny from its own military?"

"My aspirations require no other option, dear brother. I could care less of their peacemaking citizens. In order to raise The Guardians of United Nations to power, anyone threatening to jeopardize my work must be out the way. Hopefully you will see my work in this nation on the other side-whether you burn in hell or not."

Andrew did not call for help. He did not try to escape. It was an inescapable fate. His grim reality forged from a lifelong rivalry of power and dignity with his brother, the results of the factors were not surprising. The guards in the room took no action, but simply watched with great interest.

"Your men have betrayed you, Andrew. They take orders from me now." he laughed gravely.

"What a man won't do for money."

Andrew kept his composure, though staring death in its eyes. He turned to the guards in the room and bravely saluted them. They unsurely saluted back. Joseph cocked the .50 caliber Desert Eagle and held it up to his brother with an emotionless face.

The death was instant, like the power that came from it.

The gun was lowered to his side as Joseph curiously examined the homicide. He knelt down, his gloved hand pulling back the Commander's uniform to reveal the gunshot wound to his chest. Joseph looked to his brother's sad, lifeless eyes.

"Dear Andrew, if I am to say anything in respect, anything at all, your stubborn foolery took me a decade to surpass. Ever since our minds were etched in war crime as young soldiers, you have always oppressed me, even as a sibling. But now, you will rest six feet under where no one can hear your commands-only mine."

By the time he had said his respects, the Commander's blood had reddened his coat and began to paint the floor. The murderous brother slowly closed the eyelids of the dead veteran. With a pointing gesture, he commanded the guards to attend to the corpse as he mockingly saluted his victim.

"Adieu, soldier."

Joseph Bradley, now the induced Commander of GUN., smugly marched down the hall.


	3. The City of Lost Ambitions

_**I do not own any characters, they are trademarks of Sega.**_

_**Rifted **_

_**Session 3- The City of Faded Ambition**_

**Club Rouge**

The ivory bat climbed up the stairs leading to her housing floor. With each step, her anxiety grew larger and larger, but she vowed to let it only remain in her head. Rouge wasn't going to let her frets on such a small mission surface to her friend. She calmly opened the door, seeing Shadow nowhere in her sight. She closed the door behind her, peering around the hallway corner for a sign of his presence. Her home was silent, mind the whistle of the breeze from an open window in her back room. She walked towards the window, an ominous silence suddenly unnerving her. Rouge jutted her head out to find her comrade seated casually on her rooftop. Secretly relieved her friend had not taken off from her again, she softly smiled. The bat hovered over to the ebony hedgehog. He was staring off into the horizon intensely with his crimson eyes, despairingly, like a tantalized child. She decided not to ruin the peace by bringing up their last conversation. The view of the city, even in daylight, was beautifully executed from their angle. In the distance, to the right, they could see Emerald Beach touching the outer skirts of Night Babylon. To the left were the wooded trails Shadow had commuted from. Looming over the horizon past the forested area were the gloomy remains of the fallen city of Westopolis. Only when she landed gingerly at his side did he acknowledge her.

"Welcome back", he said, taking in her mood.

She was nervous about her meeting with the newly appointed lieutenant, but didn't want Shadow to uncover it. Unfortunately for her, Shadow's sixth sense was picking up on people's emotions.

"What's on your mind?"

She remained silent at first, defensively gleaming at him, but his unchanging expression broke her strategy. Rouge heavily sighed, resting her head on her knees.

"I don't know how to tell you, Shadow. I guess I just have a lot going on."

As always, he cautiously thought before responding, but it was conversations like these which left him apart from his usual demeanor. He sat silent in thought looking for an answer.

"The lieutenant of GUN wants an evaluation of my skill. He wants me to join his squadron. It's a great honor and all...but something seems wrong."

"About the lieutenant?" Rouge nodded.

"Commander Andrew didn't really seem like himself, either. I guess I'm just overreacting about the lieutenant's promotion. It just seemed a little strange I had only heard about Lieutenant Joseph until now. Promotions of that rank usually take months to legitimize. "

The hedgehog's ears perked up.

"You suspect foul play?" he asked, intrigued.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." she breathed.

She smiled at her companion, happy she was understood without further explanation.

"And I think the Commander knows something about it." Rouge stood and stretched her wings.

"Either way, I think I'll get this evaluation over with. I can always talk this over with Andrew."

"Where're you being sent?"

"Westopolis."

Shadow lowered his head, as if the recollection of the Black Arms brought back painful memories-and guilt.

"You're heading to Westopolis alone?" he questioned.

She gleamed at him.

"Yes. Why are you so nosy today?"

**Medial Territory of Night Babylon and Westopolis**

The alluring bat couldn't help but frequently glance over at him. There was always something mesmerizing about Shadow's determination that captured her attention. She was struggling to keep up, even airborne, with the ebony hedgehog. His reflexes against the terrain at such a speed were really quite formidable. They were currently traveling northwest to the ruins of the fallen city, intervened by a uninhabited stretch of woods not yet cultured by the humans. Rouge lowered her altitude, as the bitter wind dampened her fur with condensed water mist. It was late afternoon, and the temperature was dropping considerably already. Shadow showed no signs of impairment. He simply sped on without question.

The bat lessened her altitude once again, but Shadow's figure was nothing but a blur of black rebounding off the trees. Though he wasn't exactly conversing along the way, Rouge was secretly happy he had been so adamant to come along. She'd never admit it to herself, much less Shadow, that her uneasiness was overriding her ability to think. Something had taken lodge inside her head, a premonition she just couldn't shake, that something significant had occurred with Joseph. If her conscious was right, this evaluation wouldn't end well. She was somewhat relieved to have another logical person such as Shadow accompany her.

The vegetation was beginning to thin, becoming less green and alive. They were the obvious victims of wildfire. The soil also changed, Shadow first realized running upon it. The wet dirt from the damp forest clinging to his shoes attracted a grayish dust, appearing allegedly as ground up concrete, to his guess.

Rouge landed beside him as he came to a slower acceleration. The whole atmosphere around them began to dwindle from a scene of nature and vivacity, converting to a world dead from its alternates. However, any further passage was relatively blocked by collapsed skyscrapers, some stacked onto one another in a heap of intermingled steel supports. The air smelled strongly putrid of toxic fumes, originating from the combination of oil and alien substances. Even Shadow, normally resilient to such things, gagged at the scent when he attempted to approach the blockade. Smoke billowed from several locations throughout the city. Rouge's sensitive ears could pick up the distant humming of a rogue power line sparking. It was possible to fly over the buildings, but before she could voice to assist, Shadow appeared bent on a different idea.

Before them was a crashed monorail system, the boxcar itself a smoldering pile of metal feet away from its rail, littered below with bits of concrete. The rail supporters were ungraciously bent slanted from the weight of impressing buildings, so much so it was an easy access to climb onto the monorail like a ramp. Without her consent, Shadow took her by the hand and led her up the rail supporter, the two both balancing on the thin plat forming mediating in between. There was no reaction time for the young bat. With a smirk, Shadow pulled her, along with himself, down the elevational rail. Her first instinct, next to screaming, was to extend her wings, but she found it slowed her momentum, making her unstable. She tucked them close to her body, feeling her speed excel. Her second was to tighten her grip on Shadow's hand, but as she regained balance, found courage to release the hold. Rouge found herself laughing uncontrollably. Shadow confidently glanced back, a rare expression of consent on his face. Sparks flew from the railing as they continued to grind over the blockade of skyscrapers, rapidly approaching the other end of the monorail. It was obvious Shadow had experience in this category. He effortlessly kept perfect stature, and as the rail ended under his feet, landed ideally. Rouge stumbled at the edge, but caught her fall last second.

"Way better than flying over it." he bluntly commented. The ivory huntress smiled.

The two jumped down onto more level ground. They had finally arrived at Westopolis. The sky was smoky and dank, and ruined buildings loomed over them, shadowing the ground below. From the rooftops of Night Babylon, it was not infrequent to witness an erect skyscraper suddenly collapse. Now closely investigating, Rouge could understand why. Erosion from the elements had completely disintegrated sections of road in some areas. Eventually the earth beneath would erode as well, resulting in depressions that slowly ate away at the weak foundational equilibriums of the towering buildings. It was true what Joseph had said; no one inhabited the ruined city, which had been significantly destroyed. Not only that, but water supplies were infected by alien substances from the invasion, and in many places, repair would either be impossible or cost more than its worth.

Rouge had been here once before, on a different GUN mission when the Black Arms had first begun their attacks. But now the area had drastically changed from advanced decomposition and erosion, and it was a depressing feeling. The autumn wind seemed to sing as it coursed through the aged structures, almost as a melodic spirit haunting the remains of what once was living. Shadow was nervously surveying the area, either he looking for a relevance to the mission, or remembering the death and destruction he was blamed for.

"What are we here for, exactly?" Shadow asked cautiously. Rouge fluttered up to his side.

"Find and locate Westopolis's primary power grid and destroy it."

This seemed to collect interest from him, but he didn't reply. She guided him down the empty streets, occasionally having to avoid massive cracks in the streets and mangled cars embedded in months of debris from the invasion.

"Where would such a generator be located?" The ebony hedgehog quizzed.

"Central section of the city, power processing plant, something like that. So, we'll head for the center of the city. See what we can find." he silently agreed without question.

They continued on, deeper into the mazed rubble. The constant hum of the generator in the distance aggravated her keen senses, but significantly gave her an advantage. Gleaming up into the skies, her urgency was risen. The sun was nearly departed, much as the clouds had concealed its presence. The buildings portrayed giant shadows to dance on the ground, painstakingly inching forward to creep upon the two, as predatory hands. As she faithfully followed the sound, it began to louden. Shadow's ears twitched as he began to finally distinguish it. A concrete building, half collapsed and encircled by a chain link fence, appeared to be the source of the constant frequency. A large tower stretched above them, wires connecting to it from every angle. The two approached it, befuddled to find a significant hole, where the links had been snipped. Rather than dwell on a possibly irrelevant detail, the two simply carried forward. The property was relatively unchanged from what else they had seen. There was no complicated entry to a building half destroyed, and as they laid their eyes on the interior of the building, it was apparent they had come to the right place.

Even if she were miles away, she couldn't escape the repetitive buzz of the power grid ringing in her ears. The interior was solely concrete, with a large generator positioned as a mechanical centerpiece. Wires were strewn every which way, some without their protective coverings and sparking madly. The huntress inspected the machine, seeing a slot similar to the card scanner in the Central City base on one of the sides. She reasoned the control of the power grid was locked to changes without an access card. GUN's insignia had faded, and it appeared too damaged to function, obviously sabotaged. A cascading line of lit buttons were labeled underneath, each button with its own bundle of wires dissipating to the ceiling and beyond. She could tell some wires had been yanked out from their circuitries, and various other designs tampered with.

There was a sound of a footstep behind them; a shoe shifting against graveled earth. Shadow took his attention from the generator and formed a Chaos Spear in his hand, ready to release at any moment.

"Let's just pull all the wires out. I don't wanna get chewed for starting an explosion." Rouge suggested, unaware Shadow wasn't listening.

"Shadow?"

She slowly raised her head from her investigation, her turquoise eyes gleaming at Shadow. Everything about him was locked in complete stillness, mind the glowing spark of Chaos energy in his grasp. She steadily traveled her vision ahead, suddenly finding herself in firing range of a revolver.

The equipper was a young teenage girl, coated in grime and sweat. Her ruffled hair was black and pulled into a ponytail, and her eyes were a beautiful electric blue. Her hands shook as she aimed her weapon, from fear or fatigue was uncertain. Her voice was firm as she spoke into the echoing wasteland.

"Who are you?" Shadow remained silent.

Rouge stood from where she was kneeling, shocked and confused.

"Don't move!" she commanded.

"Just answer."

"I'm an agent of GUN." Rouge explained.

"What are you doing here?"

Her words seemed to open up something in the girl, something painful. Her eyes dilated, and her muscles tensed. A bullet whizzed past Rouge too close for comfort, and Shadow arched his golden-flamed spear for attack.


	4. Amongst Withered Faith

_****__****__**I do not own any of the characters, they are trademarks of Sega.**_

_**Rifted**_

_**Session 4- Amongst Withered Faith**_

_**Westopolis's Primary Power Grid**_

Rouge immediately readied her stance for battle. Her adrenaline was pumping, and she was already adamant in distrusting the female. The girl in question was holding the same bitter look. There was no peace amongst them, and either side knew. Rouge hovered, tensed, as her wings silently fluttered. Shadow gripped the energy in his hands, his suspicions carrying him to his actions. However, in a strange turn of events, it severed in his palm, gone like a memory of his past. Through his persistence of attempting to summon the aura several times, he discovered his place among the Emerald's energy was totally nonexistent.

_What just happened? _He demanded to his inner self.

Though he was locked into the aura of the Chaos Emeralds at all times, his power had been disabled from his ability. Abashed, he leered at his hand in disbelief. Rouge's mouth gaped in an effort to form words. Though rare, she could compose nothing. Still shaking, the girl reloaded and positioned the gun at his companion once more, but the onyx hedgehog took action. In a blur of black, he fronted her with supersonic speed. Within seconds, she was pinned against the wall, her weapon strewn feet away. He applied more pressure to the girl's neck with his arm, and she let out a soft cough. She refused to look into his eyes, writhing in desperation.

"Danni!" A voice behind them called.

Shadow withheld his attack hesitantly. A slightly older boy dashed towards the scene, much to Shadow's surprise-which takes a lot of effort to do.

"I heard the gun go off. What's wrong? What's-" he stopped short as he caught sight of Shadow and Rouge.

The teen was apparently out of breath from running. He was tall, with a muscular build. His caramel colored eyes were a complimented addition to his dirty blonde hair, but they held in them sadness unfathomed. He wore tattered causal clothing as the female, and two daggers were strapped to his filthy boots.

"Are you GUN mercenaries?" the panic in his voice spiked. "Are you here to kill us?"

Shadow and Rouge traded puzzled glances at each other.

"Mercenaries? We're not here to kill anybody. I was only ordered to destroy this generator." Rouge defended.

It was enough for the girl.

In Shadow's temporary disinterest, she revolted against his loosened grip, pulling her weight to the floor. The teenager swung her right leg full length, but great as an attempt it was, she missed significantly, only enabling herself to catch him briefly off guard. It would suffice for her true purpose, however. The onyx hedgehog turned on her, impressed to find himself staring down the muzzle of her gun she had scrambled to. Rather than feel defeated he smirked. Attentiveness and reflexes like that were something you learned from years of practiced obedience to your instincts-fighting-_surviving_.

He backed off confidently to where Rouge stood, the girl following him with the weapon's range. Her grip on the gun tightened as she raised herself from the ground.

"Try me." The young man lowered the girl's arm, overtly amused at their actions.

"Hey, calm down Danni Boy. Haven't I taught you never to waste a bullet?"

Danni narrowed her eyes at Rouge.

"It won't be wasted."

The boy stepped forward, snatching the revolver from the girl's hands and placing it in the holster on his side.

"I also told you never to touch my revolver." he reminded her as if he'd said it many times before. The girl eyed her partner annoyed.

"Who are you? How did you guys get here?" Rouge questioned.

Just as Shadow, this teen seemed patient and thoughtful. He pondered heavily before speaking again.

"And what if I don't trust you enough to know?"

Shadow snickered.

"Don't tell me you're criminals on the run. Hiding in a toxic quarantine is no way to go."

"Shadow? The legend?" the boy quizzed in disbelief as he stepped closer.

"Working alongside a GUN agent?"

"My occupation was sort of forced upon, kid." Rouge winked. "No one ever gets that."

The male stared off, putting the affiliations of the two infamous Mobians together.

"You guys saved the world." He commented.

"Twice. Bet you wish you could put that on your resume." the white bat smirked.

Danni's anger partially drained from her face, but she still eyed her menacingly.

The teen glanced back at his female companion, who was sulking. He turned back to them again when she gave no response.

"Come with me." he finally spoke.

"Are you out of your damn mind!?" Danni yelled.

He rolled his eyes.

"Ignore her."

Danni infuriatedly sighed, but followed her friend as he exited the building. At first, Shadow and Rouge stayed motionless in stilled thought, unsure how to react. The teenage boy looked back at them, motioning that they accompany them quickly.

"Well, hurry!"

With no alternatives, they complied. The feeling of being guided to an unknown by possible rivals daunted the alluring combatant, however, she felt a compelling force, sagacious and kind, prompt her otherwise. Shadow first most had felt this compelling, but he brushed it off with second nature to almost all emotion that fronted him in strategy. He simply followed Rouge. The roads became nothing more than dust stirred by the winds. There were little to no erect superstructures, only exoskeletons of their concrete foundations. The appearance of skyscrapers dwindled as Danni and the mysterious male continued on their path. The weak rays the sun managed to bear onto the city were ultimately blocked by the looming ruins. Shadow could feel the nightly breeze begin to stir from the Earth. They were led to the less condensed areas of the city, where Rouge noted in horrid disgust was grotesquely decorated with human skeleton fragments, scattered about.

The destruction was so much to take in.

Here were the homes of those less fortunate during the invasion. Meager apartments were wholly abolished as if they were children's blocks. The sewage from pipes had been splattered thoroughly, staining the grounds they walked on. Everything seemed blurred and surreal, as if someone would wipe it all away at any second, like an alleviated nightmare. The whole walk was silent. Rouge, unsettled, stayed sided by Shadow. Danni and her partner frequently looked behind them in cautious suspicion.

Twenty minutes of walking had positioned them in front of a school building, the roof caving in in its center. It wore mold splotches on its exterior, and withered plant-life entangled itself in its windows. The courtyard was scarred with craters. The nation's flag barely hung on the flagpole, ungraciously tattered, foretelling of its past. They stepped inside the building, and even Shadow's eyes widened at the new world they entered. The main foyer of the school was wide, with two conjoined hallways on either side. Several tiles had been uprooted. Shattered glass littered the floor as an eerie elegance, the faint sunset brightly reflecting against it. Danni and her companion briefly traveled down the right hallway, a dark reminder of the invasion's casualties. It was clear these were the grounds of a struggle. Dead corpses of the young were littered every which way, each arrangement a silent allegory. Some children had mercilessly fought for their lives, an unexpected consummation. It was apparent there was no will greater than the will of survival. Fortuitous as it was for such a feat of unarmed children, several remains of Black Arms soldiers were clear detriments of the scene, usually skewered by an object commonly obtained in the face of desperation. Even then, there was a classroom even the midnight hedgehog wished he had never laid eyes on. A decomposed departed was seated at a teacher's desk at the front of the classroom, blood splattered on the walls behind it. There was something written in the corpse's dried blood, but neither of them were further intrigued.

Danni whispered something sadly to herself, and halted in front of a door labeled _Cafeteria_.

"Was he fine when you left?" Danni asked the boy.

He nodded. "No fever. Just coughing up blood again."

Danni's face paled. She pushed the heavy metal door open, and the boy ran in.

"Hurry up." she commanded crudely. They entered.

Danni let the door slam behind them, and it echoed into the nothingness. The cafeteria was a wide open room that had once allowed plenty of natural lighting, but now, was a graveyard of debris. The large windows had been smashed, and impaled with infrastructure fragments. Backpacks, pencils, and various other school supplies were frequent among the rubble. They quickly paced themselves at the other end of the room, where they walked into what used to be the kitchen, or at least what they assumed. There was no physical remembrance left for one person to deem it so. Everything was simply battered to fragmented remnants, unrecognizable as what they once were. One thing appeared intact, nonetheless; a large metal door with a frosted window, unbroken. It was a freezer that had most likely stored school food months ago. In the corner of the room was a makeshift living room composed of begrimed blankets. Three mats were formed, and on one lay a sickly man. His dirty blonde hair matched the boy's, but it was long and matted. His beard was faintly grey, and his eyes were visibly bloodshot the few seconds they were open.

"Dad."

The girl rushed to him, kneeling beside him with a completely different demeanor. She pulled a canteen from her side strap and poured the precious resource of water down his throat.

"Dad? Can you talk?" She sympathetically asked.

All she was given in response was a painful moaning. The boy painstakingly walked towards him, almost as if his movement would harm the man.

"Dad." he started. "Today's Danni Boy's birthday. She's turning fifteen today, remember?"

The man shakily raised his hand to his daughter's face, but the attempt was cut short by a horrendous coughing fit. A few droplets of blood stained the wall beside him, and it was all Rouge could do to hold back tears. Shadow gloomily stared off in another direction.

"Go get some food from the freezer." the boy ordered.

Danni looked back with a steel glance, completely ready to question authority.

"Do it _now_." he ushered sternly.

She reluctantly walked across the room and obeyed her orders. The teen kneeled at his father's side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You gotta give Danni Boy credit. She's been through a lot. We lost our mom to leukemia a few years back, and now this. She just wants the best for our dad." he began.

"I never told ya my name. It's Scott Mendoza. And Danni's my sister." he gestured to her direction.

Shadow remained still, but Rouge stepped forward.

"How...long have you been living like this?"

He thought momentarily.

"Since all the aliens killed everyone."

Her eyes widened, and inconspicuously, Shadow glanced over.

"Y-you...you've been here for half a year? Why?"

"They never evacuated the slums. Only the big businesses and rich folk. Guess we weren't too important. We just got left behind."

"Are there more of you?"

Scott stared at his father's sickly face lovingly. "Was. They all died. Sure, for the first month or so there were hundreds of us huddled in a pack, but some people lost their minds. They started murdering each other. Some even turned cannibal."

Shadow winced, as if the ghosts of their past had suddenly infiltrated his mind.

"Most died within the first month. It turned out to be us and two others, but they died recently. There was Diana, she died from infection, and Fabian..." his voice trailed off.

The boy flinched as if the memory was too gruesomely vivid.

"...Fabian...killed himself. He was schizophrenic and a little off though."

Scott wiped the dirt from his father's face as he continued his story.

"GUN knew about us. But they never let us on the evacuation aircrafts. Said there wasn't enough room, and they'd send another one, but it was a lie. A damned lie is what it was. They left us to die out here."

Scott's voice began to choke, and was holding back tears, his eyes red and puffy. He trickled more water down his father's throat from his own canteen, and sighed heavily.

"I've never told Danni Boy this, she'd lose it, but I know he's gonna die. He's got a respiratory infection from the pollution. It's gotten worse every day. His mind's already gone." he said in relation to the sickly man.

This was a new insight at their post-apocalyptic realm, and it was all too real. After not saying a word since meeting the Mendozas, Shadow finally spoke.

"The power grid-GUN tried to shut it down virally, but you were the one who booted the system back up. You destroyed their scanners, and took the program for yourself. You're using their generator to survive." he turned his attention to the freezer responsively.

Scott smiled halfheartedly.

"If we hadn't found this place, it wouldn't have mattered if I had hacked their power grid. Medicine, food, water, it was all in this school. We tried hospitals, supermarkets, and we even raided a few houses, but all that's garbage now."

"So you were the one who hot-wired the backup grid." Rouge realized.

Danni returned with a box of frozen hamburger patties, suspiciously gleaming at the bat.

"You want me to cook these, Scott?" she asked. He stood and took the box from her.

"No Danni Boy. You clean up. You look like crap-all too literally."

For the first time, Danni smiled. He exited out a back door, and Danni returned to her sullen attitude.

"Dad, stay awake. Keep your eyes open...Dad...Dad!"

"Let him sleep, Danni." Scott called from outside.

But she didn't want him to. She was too petrified every time his eyes closed they'd never open again. The room silenced. Rouge felt guilty, even though she had taken no part in the regulation of fugitives, and stared at the ground. Shadow looked fixedly at the man, feeling an odd connection to his past. Danni picked up a tattered cloth, dampening it with water from her canteen, and began wiping the filth from her body and face. The ivory bat looked outside. It was relatively dark outside, possibly around seven or eight in the evening. If the power wasn't cut off before the deadline, Rouge knew reinforcement would be sent.

_Damn. If the Council found out about them, God knows what they might do to Scott for hacking the system._ she thought to herself.

In her less dominant thoughts, she reasoned Commander Andrew could negotiate, but somehow, the thought was an empty comfort. It would normally be out of her character to be so selfless, but every situation of self-sacrifice had never been so predominantly severe. As if the obsidian hedgehog could read her mind, he slightly nodded at her proposition in agreement.

Rouge exited out the back entrance, meeting Scott outside, where he had started a fire with an electric wire's spark against a dead tree branch. He had just finished cooking when she approached.

"Did you want one?" he offered.

She was heart warmed at his offer, considering food was a limited resource in their world, and even though she was famished and exhausted, she refused. She sat at the small fire, warming her frigid hands. Scott wrapped the food in a paper towel to conserve their heat, hungrily consuming one in an instant. His young face was illuminated by the fire, a face composed from years of mental onslaught.

"I already know what you're thinking." he said. "Don't pity us. We can hold our own."

Rouge gazed into the flames apprehensively, dancing flames flickering contrastingly against the ominous night. Scott heaved a great sigh.

"But we're not immortal. I hate to say it, but our mentalities are waning every day. It gets harder and harder for Danni to fight, and it gets harder and harder for me to push her."

He combed his fingers in his stringy hair, bowing his head in frustration.

"If you guys can save the world, surely you can save us, right?"

The white bat had no immediate answer for his request. The realization hit her-how difficult it would be to escape with two obvious fugitives and their infirm father without raising GUN's suspicions. She continued her thoughts, and the teen stood from where he sat, hamburgers in hand.

"Look, I know it can't be that simple. But Danni deserves a life better than this. And I feel you and Shadow can be the ones to get her there."

Scott entered the building, leaving Rouge alone to contemplate the dilemma she had been captured into.


	5. Breaking Point

_**I do not own any of the characters, they are trademarks of Sega.**_

_**Rifted**_

_**Session 5- Breaking Point**_

For reasons unknown to him, Shadow's mind became an inhibited machine. It was almost as if some deity was manually numbing his mind, inducing him into sleep. He was standing in a corner apart from the young girl and her father, musing to himself. He dared not alter any perspective these humans had for him. He had noticed the male, Scott, had proceeded inside without the accompaniment of Rouge. His original intent had been to keep guard for suspicious happenings, while further investigating his strange auric disconnection. He had not, however, anticipated the oddity before him.

It was a random flash of light that he could feel draining him of energy, almost as if a spirit was banging on the doors of his mind. It was a entity requesting to reside in his energy balances, as he picked up a blurred voice as if transmitted from a weathered telephone line. It came as suddenly as it went, and with his head clutching his hands, the energy infiltration subsided. There was a faint pull of aura coming from within him, and he unhesitatingly attempted to lock himself with the Chaos energy. It simply faded away, being gingerly pulled like the moon rising into view. He was reluctant to admit to himself his connection was gone. Un-doubtingly, it was the working of some separate power, as Shadow screamed into his mind there was an invading presence in his head. For minutes he demanded identity silently in his thoughts, but there was only silence, and the emptiness endowed by the disablement the entity had forced upon him.

Rouge joined the majority inside, her facial expression far from the jokingly amorous attitude he knew her as. She was obviously in deep thought. Her turquoise irises shone brightly in the dark room as she approached him.

"I can read your thoughts already." he warned. "And they're highly illogical."

"Destroy the generator. Get out with the humans. Everyone's happy."

Shadow inhaled deeply.

"You're thinking irrationally. How will you keep this man alive? He _needs_ specialized medical attention. And if what Scott says is true, GUN won't appreciate you rubbing these fugitives in their faces. You dare risk your rank for these strangers? This whole city is a giant bomb with a lit fuse. One spark from that power grid could chain reaction into an explosion. For the two of us, it's an easy escape, but with them as well?"

"There has to be a way. We can't just leave them, Shadow." her saddened voice persisted, turning from his cold glare.

The conflict reminded him of his rescuing her from the detonating Prison Island, years ago when the two had been the Doctor's accomplices. When his plans had been delayed, he ordered Shadow to leave the trapped bat behind on the island to die, claiming that they could scrounge their supplies from its ashes-yet he had saved her anyway, even with odds against him. Revisiting his memories, the hypocrisy was almost too much to bear. He sighed heavily with defeat.

"Alright. But we need to leave the city before the deadline, which is around four hours. Add that to getting out with the sick human in tow, and you've got your work cut out for you."

She exhaled a sigh of relief, happy that she had his support. "We've got this, Shad. Once we shut the power down, we'll head towards the broken monorail where we entered and fly to Club Rouge."

"And you're certain you can do this all before midnight?"

The bat winked at him playfully. "I'm never sure about anything. That's what makes it fun."

Over on the opposite side of the room, the young adults were at work. Scott was painstakingly cleaning his weapon, whilst his sister carried on their father's care. The sight was both depressing and uplifting. Here lived two children and their father near death, strongly surviving, despite circumstances. In her confidential thoughts, she wondered in disbelief why the Commander would accept such conditions. It certainly did not seem like him to ignore an entire section of civilian population during an evacuation.

_Maybe Joseph had something to do with it?_ she asked herself, drawing from her past impressions. _No, impossible._

She had not even heard of the subordinate until today; Joseph didn't have the authority at the time of the invasion...did he?

Pushing her cloudy thoughts from priority, Rouge took the initiative to step forward as Shadow followed her lead, skeptically forcing himself to comply.

"Pack up your belongings, kiddies. We're hiking outta here." Rouge attempted to change the sadness infused in the atmosphere, but the two children's faces remained unexcited.

"I don't want to take anything. I don't want to think of this place ever again." Danni replied.

Her brother cleared his throat nervously. "So, you guys have a way to get us out of here?"

"More or less." Shadow answered, staring at Rouge as she folded her wings.

"I couldn't help but overhear something about a deadline."

"Don't worry your pretty little head off." Rouge perkily responded.

Scott adjusted himself upright with new found confidence. "So, you need to shut the power grid down. I can help with that. After all, I was the one who hacked it."

Rouge glanced at Shadow unsurely. "Just how much did you hear?" she asked the boy, not wanting to bother him with the possibility of complications with GUN in the near future.

He smiled, revealing poor dental hygiene. "Enough to know GUN won't be hosting our 'Welcome Back' party."

"Yes. If you wouldn't mind." The hedgehog spoke. "It would make this operation a lot less strenuous."

Scott stood, stretching his arms casually. "You've got yourself a mechanic for the job."

"Great. You can split with one of us, and the other group can take your father. Shadow, you can pair with him."

The black hedgehog nodded.

"Shadow will take you to the rendezvous point, and then you can say goodbye to this place forever." the bat added.

"Did'ja hear that, Danni Boy!?" he excitedly questioned.

The young girl brightly smiled, and Shadow could infer it was a rare expression from her. He suddenly was glad he had agreed to save them. But...that also meant Rouge had persuaded him...and she wouldn't leave this weakness buried. Shadow narrowed his eyes at his partner, and seeing this, the huntress waved and gleamed childishly. She looked just like a mischievous toddler that had just gotten her way. And she had. Unfortunately, this would not be forgotten by her.

Out of numbing fright, the young girl abruptly dropped her canteen on the concrete slab, the impact splashing water every way.

"Scott!" Danni's voice was panicked and shaky. The two jerked their heads towards the scene at her urgency. "Scott, he's not breathing!"

Rouge and Shadow could see the fear in her eyes as she checked for life. The man's eyes rolled back into his head, his face discolored from lack of oxygen. Scott maneuvered over to her side in an instant, throwing the gun onto the floor carelessly.

"Move!" he exclaimed, pushing her back as he knelt to the man.

The teen copied Danni's actions, and a glint of horror arose in his brown eyes. "No pulse."

Scott laid his father flat on his back, resting his head back in an attempt to open his airways. He stacked his hands and pushed on the man's abdomen forcibly. Meat his daughter had fed him projectiled out his mouth.

_Resuscitation,_ Shadow thought grimly. Rouge had frozen with indistinguishable emotion beside him.

For several meticulously slowed minutes, the violent thrusting continued, no life resulting. It was a prolonged process that never seemed to end. The man's body was now still and drained of life. His chest was abnormally distended, a painful discomfort to witness. After an exhausting attempt, Scott wiped the sweat off his brow, halting the procedure and leaning back against the wall. The adolescent held his head low as he silently cried.

"What the hell are you doing? Help him! He's-"

"Dead." Scott finished solemnly.

Danni took a faint breath, inaudible to even Rouge's hearing.

"No. His lungs were going to make it through this year. He was healthy enough...you said he..." the young teen's voice faded.

An inhibiting intensity dominated the atmosphere. The two Mobians observed the unnerving downfall, knowing this family matter was not one to contribute to.

"You LIED!" She slammed her brother deliberately into the wall behind him, firmly placing her hands onto his shoulders. The boy simply stared at her with pained eyes.

"Y-you l-lied..." Her voice began to crack. Tears ran down her face and dripped onto the ground.

"Danni..."

The girl's despairing cries rang loudly into the the echoing building. Danni slid from her grip on her brother to the floor, gingerly caressing her father's lifeless face.

"...You can't go now. Not after we just found help."

There was a heartbreaking silence even Shadow found uncomfortable. The man's orphaned daughter could only throw herself onto his chest and sustain her sobbing. Shadow filtered out her despair best he could, shutting his eyes to escape the scene. He was stirred by his self induced disconnection to find Rouge clammily grasping his hand for comfort. Her palm was warm against his, and the touch seemed to ease them both. Scott came up behind his sister, comfortingly rubbing her back.

"Be strong", he simply muttered repetitively. "I promise you, Danni Boy, Dad is better off this way. He won't suffer anymore."

The girl snapped out of her emotional trance, swiping his hand away angrily. "I don't want your sympathy." Her stare was filled with dysfunctional rage.

Scott furrowed his brows. "You're acting like his death is my fault. I'm only trying to help."

"Oh hell. Don't be such a patronizer to yourself Scott!" Danni's speech slurred from her crying.

"You pretend everything's just fine. Nothing bad is gonna happen. Ever again. You acted the same when Mom died. You were the same when the aliens invaded. You didn't even shed a tear when Fabian blew his brains out with your revolver!" She pointed to the gun beside them.

"Do you just not _care_ if everyone we love is gone?"

Now, the boy's expression was composed of annoyance at the blunt mentioning of his comrade.

"I had to be stronger. For you, and for Dad. Who else would have kept you alive while you bawled all day?"

That was the breaking point.

Danni shot up from the ground, grasping the revolver and dashing out the back door before her brother could protest.

"Danni!" Scott called out, his anger vanishing, replaced with adamant concern. He sunk down to the floor yet again, frustratingly smashing his fist into the concrete. "Shit!"

Rouge attempted pursuit, but the obsidian hedgehog inhibited her, tightening his grasp on her hand. She looked back, irritated.

"Don't interfere. It's not our place." She forced herself to relax.

"No, wait." Scott decided, his voice choked from distress. The two turned to him, confused.

"Go ahead and go after her. She'll do something stupid if you don't. Shadow and I will shut down the generator."

"Most likely, she won't listen to reason, especially if it comes from Rouge." Shadow replied.

"Just go."

Shadow drifted from the teen into Rouge's adamant stare, confident and raring to storm off to action. It was apparent she was going to do the mission at hand. She was going to save these people, whether he let go of her hand or not.

"Meet at the monorail?" She asked Shadow.

"Monorail." He agreed.

He reluctantly released her hand from his own, and she disappeared out the building and into the night scene. The antihero then faced Scott.

"Let's go."


	6. Hostile Reception

_**I do not own any of the characters, they are trademarks of Sega.**_

_**Rifted**_

_**Session 6- Hostile Reception**_

_**Westopolis**_

The aerial view wasn't much as an advantage as Rouge had hoped for. She had to give Danni credit for being so agile, though she cursed under her rasped breath when her slim, pale figure blended into the dark and out of sight. Thoughts of the worst-case scenario flooded her head: Danni achieving her suicidal plights, GUN slowly torturing details out of Scott, only to later execute or imprison him, and seal away the information from the public.

She dove towards the concrete ground, scouring the horizon at a lower angle. She caught glimpse of the teen's form, and rested her wings at the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store. Her ears twitched with the results of her keen senses, picking up the footsteps of the human running on gravel. She patrolled the grounds skeptically for a moment, losing confidence every second. However, the fear of such a young girl taking her own life was just too saddening for her. She rashly rebelled against strategy and screamed the girl's name into the desolation. The girl foolishly responded by scurrying out of her hiding place, a mangled vehicle impaled by a telephone pole. Danni dashed away, but the bat swung out and fronted her before she could run off.

"Get away!" the child demanded. "Get away from me!"

She attempted escape, but Rouge yanked her shirt, pulling her view to Rouge's.

"Danni, listen to m-"

"LET GO BITCH!" Rouge jerked back as she narrowly avoided a swift punch from Danni, who as squirming madly.

It was all Rouge could do to hold back her temper.

"You really want to give up like this?" She nervously questioned as she glanced at the revolver in her pants.

The child acted as if the words never left her mouth, still wrestling in her steel grip.

"Stop this!"

"Isn't it my decision whether I wanna live or die? It is! It's_ my_ choice, so let go!"

"You can get out of this kind of living! Your life isn't over!"

"And then what!?" She sobbed. "Then what do you plan to do with us? We can't live normal lives anymore. We won't blend in with you. Anyone. We are society's _garbage."_

Rouge sighed. "Y'no kid, so am I. Shadow is too. We understand your situation. That's why you need to trust us. We can help you."

"Fuck off." The teen whimpered.

Still, the bat persisted. "No one gave a damn if we made it to our next birthday or not. We had to take the hate we got and make ourselves stronger with it. We had to _make _the world accept us."

She was silent as Rouge continued.

"Sucide is the easy way out. My whole life? I've been pickpocketing my way through, never really getting the chance to be anything else but a thief, where everyone avoids you and pushes you away. And look at Shadow. He had the entire world fighting against him. It took awhile, but he finally overcame his past, too. Of course my situation turned out a lot better than his..." She quieted wth guilt for a moment. "Point being kid, no one expected me to make something of myself. No one wanted me to, either. I had to work with what life gave me, no matter how much it sucked. When people look back on me, I want them to remember how I proved everyone wrong. Sure, Shadow and I could reason ourselves into suicide, but we always kept working towards..."

Rouge cursed herself for her suden faltering, but in truth, she couldn't finish her thought.

Danni could muster no form of speech. She anxiously gripped the weapon with sorrowful eyes.

"I can tell your brother really loves you." Rouge stated. "He'd be pretty upset if I had to bring back your corpse."

This seemed to do the desired effect. Danni nodded slowly. "I'm not actually his sister, but he's always called me that..." She dazed off, seemingly remembering old times. The white hot rage from her expression melted away, her lip beginning to quiver. "I...I..."

Rouge did the one thing that seemed right; she ran her fingers through the girl's stringy, black hair, pulling her into a comforting embrace like a nuturing mother. Tears streamed down her face again, wetting Rouge's chest as she buried her ashamed face deeper. This time, however, her crying was silent.

_**Westopolis Main Power Grid**_

"Do you hear that?"

Scott craned his neck to look inside the generator. "Nah." He nonchalantly responded, hardly taking it to thought.

Shadow turned his head towards the sky, certain he could hear the noise. "Helicopter."

"Nah, man. Copters fly over all the time. S'nothing."

"It just might be." Shadow countered, still eyeing the horizon intently. The hum grew more apparent, even so that Scott faced it as well. Still, he simply shrugged his shoulders, obviously not concerned, and returned to his work.

"Just let me take this thing apart without blowin' us across Westopolis, will ya?"

Shadow darted his eyes at the teen. "I'm saying if it serves the purpose I think it doees, you won't have to."

Scott wiped the oil from his forehead. It was clear he was aggravated with both the machine's complexity and Shadow.

"What in hell are you gettin' at from a stupid copter? Rouge said they wouldn't be here for hours."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the oncoming machine, spotting the infamous logo he had anticipated etched proudly on its side. The hedgehog pointed to the approaching presence.

"GUN. Looks like they were more impatient than we thought."

_**Slums of Westopolis**_

The white bat sat on the cold concrete, pulling clumps of dirt and debris from the girl's hair. Rouge looked down at the completely transformed Danni in her arms. The child had lost awareness of reality, drifting in and out of light sleep. Her breathing was wheezy and faint, her cobalt blue eyes bloodshot from crying and exhaustion. The current situation had come on so abruptly. It was almost humorous to think of her maddened outrage minutes ago, and how hours before, she was aiming a gun at her head.

Danni lay helplessly against her body now, both physically and emotionally vulnerable. Every so often, the girl would mutter something to her, though it was so muted, it was incomprehensible. Satisfied with her poor cosmetic improvments, she glanced around her. The empty world reminded her of her days spent traveling, no home, no family, no purpose. It shifted to darker times, times of desperation. She would have done anything to stay alive then. She could recall the nights she spent rigorously trainingfor illegal fights, sacrificing sleep to conceive and carry out intricate crime schemes. She had learned to adapt, taking on seduction and trickery to acheive living.

Then, a blur of amazing events, so much that her past only resurfaced with deep pondering.

Commander Andrew, Shadow and Omega, even Sonic and the others filled that lonely gap for acceptance she never had. So strange how heavily she had relied on memories of the past to ease her anxiety about all this. Maybe, she thought, it was giving herself hope to save the Mendozas. Odd as it was, little Danni, in her perspective, was her incarnation, embittered and self-reliant, just trying to be normal in a messed up life. Saving her was like saving herself.

She gradually relaxed with the hypnotic rhythm of Danni's soft rising and falling against her abdomen, accompanied by the wind. Happy memories dulled her as she slowly relinquished herself to tranquility.

It was but a cruel taunt for rest.

Rouge raised her ears instinctively, her drowsiness leaving instantly at the distant humming of a helicopter. She cursed to herself. There wasn't much time for nonsense anymore. It was shocking she could just disregard the situation's urgency by idling away like that in the first place. With the little time there was, something had to be done.

_Run_, she thought. _That could be GUN. What are you doing?_

She was about to risk her job and life for someone she hardly knew. Could she honestly make such a commitment? Still, the girl, asleep so peacefully in her lap, conflicted her. She was broken. So helpless and mentally screwed up, just like she was.

_You got a chance to escape. Give her one. You have to be hers._

GUN's metallic monster grew nearer.

"Crap." She angrily grunted, sitting upright. Danni shot up from her position, her dreary eyes now wide open, her revolver by her side gripped with white knuckles.

"Wha-"

The bat pulled her up to her feet. Danni wobbled for a second from her abrupt motion.

"No talk. We have to go." The helicopter's distance was now close enough to see its attatched searchlights, travleing every direction in the sky like evil entities coming to plague them.

They ran off into the streets, fueled solely on adrenaline, legs weak from anticipation.

"Where are we going?" Danni finally questioned. "Where's my brother and the hedgehog guy?"

Realization hit her. Shadow and Scottwere probably on the other side of the city at the power grid, since the remaining lights were still shining down on them. It would be safe to assume the generator had not been shut down.

Which meant the diatraction attempt was useless now.

"They're at the monorail, waiting for us." She wildly guessed. Truth was, she wasn't sure. Passage of time had been lost. For all she knew, GUN could have them both already. Again, she cursed silently at her own incompetence.

The thought of Joseph, with his pale, pursed lips fit into that devilish smirk, bragging about his new celebrity hostage, made her blood boil. She couldn't let him of all people win against her.

The human girl looked above, staring slightly worried at the metallic creature stalking them. "Uh, they're catching up pretty fast."

With that, Rouge too craned her neck up to see the machine speeding towards them, now hovering so near, the dust from the ground began to swirl around them.

One of the searchlights captured them in its vicinity.

"Damn it!" She shouted. "Down here! Get down!"

The two camoflauged themselves the best they could, scurrying around for endless minutes in an attempt to deter it. It seemed no amount of running could do so.

The girl panted heavily beside her, her speed faltering. "Rouge, I...I can't...run any...anymore."

The bat nodded apprehensively.

_So, that copter's speed is abnormally fast. I bet it' a new model. And no doubt they've been using my communicator to track me. They fly a distinct path, not erratic, like they know where they're going. But...there's no way I can remove this thing without hacking my arm off..._

She now regretted allowing them to impress that communicator onto her wrist, despite it being a requirement for her amnesty to be legitimized years before. Even if she managed to penetrate the surface and disable it, she doubt it would do much good in her situation. She could recall the GUN medic's remarks as he established the device on her arm that day-the day she practically sold her life to the military out of her hopelessness.

"Just think of it as a piece of jewelry." At the time, a permanent metal accessory seemed a small price to pay for her much needed food, shelter, and salary.

That day seemed forever ago. How foolish she had been.

Rouge shook herself out of thought. This was a battlefield. She had to hold her focus.

She considered flight. She could carry Danni no doubt. But she feared it would give away her location all too easily.

Hide in the shadows. That was her best option for now.

The section of the city they came to was the same as anywhere else, though possibly worse. Massive craters scarred the road, the victim of bombings. Hardly any structure remained. The ground was composed of ashy metal, everything else, gone. The landscape was desolate, the same, and certainly nowhere to hide.

Danni's exhausted body struggled to keep up, so Rouge found herself half dragging her in order to evade the searchlights. Finally, a miracle appeared in her vision. They rested themselves inside the remnants of a lone building, possibly an old thrift shop of some sort, as random artifacts littered the floor. The females flattened themselves against the remaining wall beset they could, hopelessly trying to convert themselves into two-dimensional figures.

Rouge peered around the wall, keeping watch for the inevitable, as her human comrade caught her breath.

The blades' continuous roar edged closer. Closer. Closer.

Fear cracked Danni's normally stiffened composure. Her hand began to tremor uncontrollably. The Mobian clasped it unsurely with an awkward smile of reassurance.

Danni balled her fist, her electric stare adamantly focused on the floor.

Rouge squinted her eyes. As the copter slowly descended in the distance ahead, those cold grey pupils became all the more visible in her angry thoughts. Joseph stood triumphantly at the doorway of the copter, a true figure of authority with his polished navy uniform, a small legion on soldiers behind him.

"Run Danni." Rouge grittede between her teeth. The teenager's eyes darted madly. It was apparent she was too scared to concentrate. Besides, leaving her alone wasn't the best option for her right now, not in her mental state. When the girl was unresponsive, she simply brushed off the idea.

"Stay quiet. Let me handle this-it's me they want. I won't let them take you, hon." She ruffled her raven black hair playfully.

A sudden wave of calm washed over the girl's face. "Th-thank you."

"No problem."

"I'm sorry, Rouge...I...I had the wrong idea about you."

The apology warmed her, in spite of the frigidness.

"Uh, don't sweat it, kid. You don't have to worry about that kind of thing with me, especially now."

The copter had landed a bit aways from them. Soldiers began scurrying out, like a swarm of insects with their bug-eyed goggles and black uniforms. SHe thoroughly searched the setting for Shadow. No sign. She wasn't sure if that relieved her or the opposite.

"I don't have time to play hide and seek with you. Come out." A familiar voice hastily spoke.

_Last chance. Smooth talk my way out, or make a run for it? Andrew could get me out of this mess. Where is he? Why isn't he with the soldiers?_

The assumed lieutenant took his time walking towards them, strutting a dignified pose and snooty expression on his face that made Rouge want to kick him. Hard. She silently gestured for Danni to stay put, but shen could tell from the newly found fire in her eyes that wasn't going to happen. Against her better judgement, they both walked out into the open.

"Well, well. Agent Rouge. Sightseeing are you? I'd assume, since you've already made circles around this place. It's overt that you have no intentions of shutting that generator down." He gestured, and the agents readied themselves.

"Now, now, don't get your panties in a wad, old man. I've still got time until the deadline, don't I?" She hated sweetening her tone for the creep. "I'm just taking my time, yeah? Aren't you a busy, busy man with no time to worry about me?"

Joseph furrowed his brow. "Cut the crap. What a lying sneak you are, Miss Rouge. I've personally been tracking your actions with your communicator. Quite handy, realy. At first it was plain curiosity, you see, to test your efficiency. I had no idea you'd completely dsregard my orders, as if your attitude wasn't enough, you white rat. You're no good for my squadron. And I'll see to it you never sap another dime from our society again." His eyes wandered to Danni.

"Who's the begrimed one? A relative of your little rat family?" The girl tightened her grip on Rouge's hand. "Just look at her! She appears half-dead!" He joked with his men.

"I am thanks to you." Danni yanked her hand away to point accusingly at the man. He smiled, amused.

"Danni-"

"You pricks just sit around all day behind the wheel. You're rich, right? I bet you had everything handed to you on a silver plater. Meanwhile, we had to work our asses off just to survive. You don't know what it's like. Well you suck. All of GUN, all of the United Federation government pricks just suck. You're all condescending jerks AND I HATE YOU!" The words were spat so contemptuously, she sounded like a different person altogether.

"Hm." Joseph stroked his chin with a gloved hand. "Interesting. You're a survivior from the war evacuation, aren't you, girl?"

Rouge remembered her suspicions on him and hung on his every word.

His brain reeled the possibility through. "So, you picked up a little baby rodent. You're trying to protect her, is that it?"

Danni shuffled nervously.

"Well, we can't have this freak show scaring the citizens, but maybe, if you apologize for your childishly atrocious behavior, we can get her a cage." He laughed menacingly, waving his hand at his men.

"Get them."


End file.
